Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 24, 1914 In the southeastern area of present-day India, a new railway bridge connecting the town of Mandapam on the mainland with Pamban Island was officially opened. At the time of the bridge’s debut, this region was part of an administrative subdivision of British India known as the Madras Presidency. The structure is called... Continue Reading →
February 18, 1911 The world’s first official mail delivery via airplane took place in the northern area of the present-day Republic of India. At the time, this region of India was under British rule as part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. French pilot Henri Pequet, who happened to be in the city... Continue Reading →
February 13, 1959 President Carlos P. Garcia of the Republic of the Philippines issued an executive order designating a new yacht as the flagship (lead ship) of the Philippine Navy. This designation took place not long after the vessel had undergone a two-day series of sea trials. The sea trials were conducted under Philippine Navy... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1888 Construction began on a new terminal building for Sirkeci railway station in the city of Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) in the present-day Republic of Turkey. (At the time, Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire; Constantinople served as the empire’s capital.) With Constantinople straddling the Bosporus strait between Europe and Asia,... Continue Reading →
February 10, 1953 Narisimha Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who played a pivotal role in modernizing and improving India’s railway network, died in the city of Madras (present-day Chennai) in southern India at the age of 70. Ayyangar had been born in the region in 1882. His longtime public service career started in 1905; the first of those... Continue Reading →
January 30, 2017 The extensive sea trials for the Indian Navy sailing vessel (INSV) Tarini were successfully completed. INSV Tarini, which had been built at Aquarius Shipyard in southwestern India’s state of Goa, was only the second ocean-going sailboat to become part of the Indian Navy. (ISNV Mhadei, the first of these sailboats, had been... Continue Reading →
January 24, 1953 The Xiluo Bridge in the western region of Taiwan’s main island was formally dedicated. The bridge, which crosses over the Zhuoshui River, connects Xiluo Township in Yunlin County with Xizhou County in Changhua County. At the time of its debut, the structure – measuring 6,361.7 feet (1,939 meters) in length and featuring... Continue Reading →
January 23, 1951 In Denmark, the Jutlandia – an ocean liner that had been recently reequipped as a hospital ship – left Copenhagen under the command of Commodore Kai Hammerich for use as a medical treatment facility in the Korean War. “Despite snow and cold,” reported the New York Times, thousands of people showed up... Continue Reading →
January 6, 2011 The Philippines-based airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) achieved a major milestone by flying its 50 millionth passenger. CEB, which in 2010 had become the Philippines’ largest airline based on the number of passengers flown on both domestic and international routes, began operations in 1996. The airline’s 50 millionth passenger was Harold Toifl, who... Continue Reading →
January 2, 1998 A new vehicular bridge connecting Malaysia with the Republic of Singapore was opened to traffic. This bridge crosses the section of the Straits of Johor that is situated between Iskandar Puteri (the southernmost city of continental Eurasia) in the Malaysian state of Johor and the planning area of Tuas in the West... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 